September 19th, 2020 by Steve Hanley
We reported a few days ago that Elon Musk has promised a radical redesign of the Model Y that will be produced at the new factory in Germany next year. According to a report by Reuters he said, “It will be the first time that there will be a transformation in the core structural design of the vehicle. It’s quite a big thing. Both manufacturing, engineering and design as well.”
Courtesy of Tesla
Now, Germany’s TeslaMag reveals that it recently took a tour with other journalists of the new factory accompanied by Evan Horetsky, who is the head of construction at the Gigafactory outside Berlin. TeslaMag has previously reported that 8 of the giant casting machines manufactured by IDRA in Italy will be installed at the German factory. During the tour, Horetsky was asked whether the frame for the German Model Y would be cast from one piece since there were so many high pressure casting machines available.
He said that would not be happening — at least not yet — but that the front part of the frame for the Model Y will be made using a one piece casting. The reason Tesla has specified 8 of the machines — which IDRA calls “gigapresses” — at the German factory is because the company wants to be able to cast a large number of parts very quickly. Tesla is already testing a high pressure casting machine at its factory in Fremont and has indicated it will install another for Model Y production in China. Both of those will make castings for the rear frame of the Model Y.
Musk has indicated his desire to eventually cast the entire frame of car in one piece. While that day is not yet here, it is certainly getting closer. One can only wonder what dark mutterings are taking place within the boardrooms of traditional car companies as their executives contemplate the most radical changes in automobile production since Henry Ford built his first assembly line.
TeslaMag speculates about whether the castings used in the Model Y will eventually be used to manufacture the Model 3. There is no hard information on that subject but it seems likely the idea has long since formed in the mind of Musk.
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Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his homes in Florida and Connecticut or anywhere else the Singularity may lead him. You can follow him on Twitter but not on any social media platforms run by evil overlords like Facebook.
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